Waterloo begins next phase of improvements on Highway 63

WATERLOO, IOWA (EXCERPTS FROM WCFCOURIER.COM): More than $60 million has been spent since construction started in 2013 to rebuild the highway from Jefferson Street downtown to Donald Street near UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital. The final phase, which includes a skyline-changing bridge to replace the Canadian National Railway underpass, is slated to wrap up in the fall.

Noel Anderson, Waterloo director of community planning and development, recalls the message from the state highway department. “They said: Look, we’re giving you the money to do the road. Now you’ve got to make it look nice and get homes and businesses to come here.

“They told us we need to hold up our end of the deal and redevelop the corridor,” he added. “It was about improving the whole corridor, and I think that’s what we’re doing.”

“So much has happened in downtown Waterloo since we started, with the new (Courtyard by Marriott) hotel, SingleSpeed and Hawkeye Community College,” Grant Crossing developer Brent Dahlstrom said. “We always hoped all of those items would happen, but it is great to be a small part of all the great activity going on downtown.”

“The new Highway 63 design has made pedestrian safety improvements that allowed for connections and accessibility from John Deere Waterloo Works and the TechWorks campus to downtown businesses, residential and entertainment,” said Marta Purdy, of Vandewalle and Associates, a downtown planning consultant. You can read the full WCF Courier article here.